It’s unlikely that extensions are coming for Packers leadership. Incoming Packers president/CEO Ed Policy said he won’t be signing head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst to extensions in 2025, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
Both LaFleur and Gutekunst still have two years remaining on their contracts, and since they’re not in lame-duck status, Policy refuses to give the duo new deals. The same goes for executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball, and Demovsky notes that all three decision makers will report directly to their new team president.
“All three of them [are] under multi-year contracts,” Policy said (via Demovsky). “None of them are up at the end of this year. We won’t be doing anything going into this season.”
With Mark Murphy retiring, Policy will officially take over as the franchise’s boss in the middle of July. The timing of the move has nothing to do with the president’s refusal to hand out extensions; in fact, Policy has worked with the Packers for more than a decade and was involved in the interviews with both LaFleur and Gutekunst. Rather, Policy’s decision appears to come down to personal preference.
However, the executive did admit that he doesn’t like having head coaches or GMs operating as impending free agents.
“I’m generally opposed — I’d never say never — [but] I’m generally opposed to a coach or GM going into the last year of their contract,” Policy said. “That creates a lot of issues. I think normally you have a pretty good idea of where that relationship is going when you have two years left — not always, but normally.
“So I think generally speaking I would avoid lame-duck status. It’s oftentimes difficult on everybody involved. But there are certain situations that probably call for it, so I would not say never.”
As Demovsky notes, that sentiment would make the 2025 campaign especially important for the head coach/GM duo. The Packers would seemingly have to be a major disappointment next season for the team to not extend LaFleur and Gutekunst. The head coach won 13 games in each of his first three seasons at the helm (Gutekunst was hired as GM a year before LaFleur caught on), and the Packers have made the playoffs in five of the past six seasons.
While speaking with the media, Policy revealed a handful of ways he may operate differently than his predecessor. The executive noted that he’ll “increase the amount and the time of formal meetings with football leadership” in an attempt to remove any silos between his top decision makers. However, Policy was quick to clarify that he’ll let his top leaders do their jobs.
“I’d stay out of their business,” Policy said. “I would not meddle in what they do. I would communicate very frequently and openly and directly with them on all things, but certainly no team needs two head coaches or two GMs. Not a lot of change in the way Mark had done that.”
No reason to extend the worst GM in all of sports. If anything they should look at firing him now.
When you grow up. Please try and learn football before you post next time? Thx.
Before you post, please learn to use the English language correctly. Your response contains several grammatical issues. Here’s a breakdown and some corrected options:
* “When you grow up.” – This is a sentence fragment. It needs to be connected to a main clause.
* “Please try and learn football” – “Try and learn” is a common colloquialism, but grammatically, “try to learn” is preferred.
* ”before you post next time?” – The question mark is inappropriate here as it’s a command/request, not a question.
If you are going to try to present yourself as “all knowing” about the topic you are posting a comment about, you should try to have a command of the language you are using. Otherwise, you come off sounding like an idiot.
And yet, they still came off as smarter than you.
Did you run this through Chat GPT just so you can copy and paste it for your reply on PFTR?
Or.. and wait for it… I am 💩 posting you back based on your original 💩 post. 😁
“No reason to extend the worst GM in all of sports. If anything they should look at firing him now.” This is one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever read on the internet.
Wow are you a moron. Just stop, get a clue about football, and get some sleep
What a terrible take. You need to stop playing fantasy football.
That is a joke right? The Packers are one of the most sound,solid, storied franchises in all of North American sports.
A lot (a LOT) of Packers fans suffer from a delusional brain disease called: “entitled-town.” This disease means they think everyone needs to be fired if the Packers don’t win the Super Bowl every year.
These same folks often combine this with a lack of willingness to understand that the GM’s job is to look forward, and not back, resulting in their seeming inability to understand how paying old fan-favorite players is a bad idea generally.
Combine the two, and you’ve got one of the most self-satisfied, obnoxious, fan bases in all of sports.
And I say this as a Packers fan. So many online Packers fans make me ashamed to claim that same label.
I can only imagine the old school Kansas City fan
link to i.ytimg.com
That’s a bad…policy
lol WTH 😂
I mean, it makes sense. It is time for this team to make a deep playoff run. They’ve been rebuilding since 2022. And that means Love needs to play like he did late in 23, the offense needs to gel, and those 1st round picks on defense need to ball out. That all reflects on Gute, MLF, and Russ Ball.
Or the fact Love was injured for 80% of the season last year
Yes. That too and that is one reason I’m expecting and offensive bonanza for Gb this year.
They should be extended only after they build championship quality DBs.
LaFraud doesn’t deserve an extension, thank god Policy has seen sense
The Packers are a legitimate playoff contender despite having the youngest roster in the league. They are only going to get better as these players mature together. Gutekunst and LaFleur getting extensions in the near future is a no brainer.
I think they will. But some things have to improve this year. A division title and a playoff win would seal it. But if Love looks really good and the pass rush improves, that also could be enough maybe. Even if it’s only a wild card and quick January exit again.
Perhaps that is “entitled town” thinking. But it’s where most Packers fans are. We expect the playoffs annually at minimum.
The packers having ANY kind of pass rush would be an improvement
Their DE’s have been under achieving. Gary and Van Ness need to step up this year
Cooper‘s going to be a beast, which will help Gary.
They always have one of the youngest rosters. It’s the draft and develop strategy. So there’s no “despite,” if the strategy doesn’t get results, heads should roll.
They are taking the long term view with their approach so setbacks are to be expected. Now if they were signing veterans for a quick fix (while mortgaging the future in the process) and failed… then yes, heads should roll.
Don’t extend the GM, but keep MLF. That is the right path. Gute has been a horrible GM.
Fumbling several drafts, mishandling Rodgers prior to his 2 MVP seasons, mishandling Adams trade.